MINUTES OF MEETING
29th November 2021, Eardisley Village Hall
Present: Cllrs Alan Watkins, Phil Bayliss, Ian Bowman, Chris England, James Forrest, Ken Goodman, Yvonne King, Andrew Layton, Terry Morgan, Lewis Price, Tony Raymond, Paul Whittall and Steven Whittall
In Attendance: Clerk to the Parish Council, Alison Morgan
Members of the Public: 5
1. Apologies were accepted from Cllrs Nancy James, Geoff Greenhill, Sue Prosser & Ward Councillor Jones.
2. No Declarations of Interest or requests for Dispensation were received for this meeting.
3. Open Discussion:
3.1. Ward Councillor Address: No report was presented due to Cllr Jones’s absence.
3.2. Public Participation Period: Matters raised included:
- Traffic and road safety concerns, Eardisley
- Street Signage at The Courtlands, Winforton (Agenda item 6.1 refers)
- Planning Application, Goosepool Cottage (Agenda Item 5.1 refers)
4. Minutes of the last meeting held on 18th October 2021 were APPROVED as a true record; they were duly signed by the Chair and will be available via the PC web site shortly.
5. Planning Application: The Parish Council was invited to comment on one application since the last meeting, as follows:
5.1. P214029/F – Annexe at Goosepool Cottage, Winforton HR3 6EB: Application for a change of use of annexe, currently an office and spare room, to offer it as a holiday let. Councillors RESOLVED to accept the recommendation from the Planning Working Group to support this application, which is compliant with policies contained in the Neighbourhood Development Plan.
6. Highways Working Group (HWG) Report: Topics included footpaths, the trial 20mph speed limit scheme in Pembridge, an update on the parish drive-round and SID base plates. The report can be found in full on the Highways page of the EGPC web site: https://eardisleygroup-pc.gov.uk/highways-working-group-reports/ Current and past SID reports are available here: https://eardisleygroup-pc.gov.uk/highways/speed-indicator-devices-sids/
6.1. Courtlands Street Signage: A proposal to part-fund road signage from the Courtlands to the recent developments of Court Meadow, The Paddocks and Paddocks End was proposed by the Highways Working Group to supplement £200.00 donated by residents in Court Meadow. The matter was discussed at length, but finally REJECTED on the basis that a majority of councillors did not wish to set a precedent by purchasing street signage that was the responsibility of the developer(s) and Herefordshire Council to enforce.
7. Environment Working Group Report: A group of Eardisley councillors, including a representative from the Environment Working Group, made an on-foot inspection of water courses to assess flood risk and as a starting point for proposing practical solutions.
7.1. As per the Agenda, Councillors were to be asked to support a proposal for the Parish Council to undertake a flood alleviation project in Eardisley; however, this agenda item was overtaken by events after confirmation was received from Herefordshire Council on the day of the PC meeting that a scheme will be initiated and funded by them, subject to survey. It was therefore AGREED instead the Clerk should arrange a meeting to include representatives of Herefordshire Council/BBLP, the Ward Councillor and councillors on site in the New Year to understand what is intended.
8. Community Matters:
8.1. Dog Waste Bins (Eardisley): Councillors considered a proposal to purchase additional bins and undertake a collection service as this is no longer an option through Herefordshire Council. It was recognised the purchase of the bins was not prohibitively expensive, but there was concern over the longer-term expense of providing a collection service. After discussion, councillors RESOLVED this was not something they wished to pursue.
9. Finance & Compliance Matters: The Clerk reported internal scrutiny of the Parish Council’s accounts for the first half of the fiscal year has been completed by two councillor members of the Finance Working Group who had not been actively involved in making payments. Minor queries raised are being followed up by the Clerk, but overall figures were confirmed.
9.1. Bank Reconciliation & Balances (31.10.2021): Financial reports, including payments and receipts lists, for the first half of the fiscal year were APPROVED and are already published on the Parish Council’s web site. In addition, bank reconciliation reports were updated from the on-line accounting system and a separate report run for each month of the current year, replacing manually prepared reports. It was agreed bank reconciliation reports should all be adopted and the Chair duly signed copies of the new format reports dated from 30th April up to and including 31st October 2021. This format, which replicates the end of year return, will be used from now on in Parish Council meetings and all reports are publicly available on the web site.
9.2. As a precursor to Agenda items 9.3.1 and 2, councillors reviewed an updated report showing financial performance against budget and the forecast to 31st March 2022.
9.3. Councillors were requested to consider and approve the following:
9.3.1. Budget for 2022/23: considering the financial performance and forecast report, it was acknowledged no significant changes were anticipated to income or expenditure in the upcoming fiscal year, apart from staff costs and anticipated cost of living increases in other expenditure cost codes. Although the noticeboards project was now complete, it was anticipated similar amounts were likely to be needed for traffic calming and potentially flood relief or other community projects. It was, therefore, AGREED the Clerk should increase budgeted figures for all existing expenditure cost codes (except noticeboards) accordingly. An updated report will be run to confirm the revised budget figures at the January meeting.
9.3.2. Precept 2022/23: Based on forecast monitoring, it was clear there is still an operational shortfall to meet projected expenditure without the need to call on reserves. Analysis of other parish councils in the county with similar population also indicates EGPC precept levels continue to rank lower than many. It was, therefore, RESOLVED to continue to bridge this gap incrementally by increasing the 2022/23 precept by £2,500.00 to £20,500.00. The Clerk will advise Herefordshire Council accordingly.
9.4. Councillors VERIFIED the following payments made under delegated powers:
| Ref. | Payee | Description | Gross Amount (£) | VAT (£) |
| 9.4.1 | HMRC | PAYE Q2/2022 | 44.01 | 0.00 |
| 9.4.2 | MCG Davies | INV 38 (WO 06-LM) | 40.00 | 0.00 |
9.5. It was RESOLVED to pay the following:
| Ref. | Payee | Description | Gross Amount (£) | VAT (£) |
| 9.5.1 | MCG Davies | PROW Maintenance (INV 49) | 380.00 | 0.00 |
| 9.5.2 | Information Commissioner | Data Protection Renewal Fee (Direct Debit) | 35.00 | 0.00 |
| 9.5.3 | A Morgan | Office Expenses (Oct) | 18.94 | 1.36 |
| 9.5.4 | A Morgan | Salary (Nov/Dec 2021) | As per contract of employment | |
10. Correspondence: The following correspondence was noted:
10.1. HC/BBLP: Invitation to on-line and drop-in sessions to engage on the annual highways plan.
10.2. Zoom Subscription renewal notification.
10.3. HC Planning Enforcement – Sunnyside Filling Station, Whitney on Wye
11. Matters for the Next Agenda – No discussion.
Please send Agenda items for the next meeting to the Clerk by Friday, 7th January 2022, thank you.